North–South railway (Vietnam)

North–South railway
ETCS Level 2
Maximum incline	≤6‰/≤9‰
Route map Legend km 0,000 Hanoi 5 Giáp Bát 9 Văn Điển to Hà Đông 18 Thường Tín 26 Chợ Tía 30 Vạn Điểm 34 Phú Xuyên Hà Nam border 45 Đồng Văn 56 Phủ Lý 67 Bình Lục Nam Định border 73 Cầu Họ 81 Đặng Xá 0,087 Nam Định 94 Trình Xuyên 101 Núi Gôi 108 Cát Đằng Ninh Bình border 115 Ninh Bình 121 Cầu Yên 125 Ghềnh 134 Đồng Giao Thanh Hóa border 142 Bỉm Sơn 153 Đò Lèn 161 Nghĩa Trang Mã River 0,176 Thanh Hóa 188 Yên Thái 197 Minh Khôi 207 Thị Long 219 Văn Trai 229 Khoa Trường 238 Trường Lâm Nghệ An border 245 Hoàng Mai Hoàng Mai River 261 Cầu Giát for Thái Hoà Lạch Vạn River 272 Yên Lý 279 Chợ Sy 292 Mỹ Lý Cua Lo River 309 Quán Hành 0,319 Vinh 330 Yên Xuân Cả River 338 Yên Trung 345 Đức Lạc 352 Yên Duệ 358 Hòa Duyệt 370 Thanh Luyện 381 Chu Lễ 386 Hương Phố 397 Phúc Trạch Quảng Bình border 405 La Khê 409 Tân Ấp Tân Ấp–Xóm Cục Railway 415 Đồng Chuối 426 Kim Lũ 437 Đồng Lê 450 Ngọc Lâm 453 Minh Cam 459 Lạc Sơn 468 Lệ Sơn 482 Minh Lệ Côn River 489 Ngân Sơn 499 Thọ Lộc 511 Phúc Tự 0,522 Đồng Hới 529 Lệ Kỳ 539 Long Đại Long Đại River 551 Mỹ Đức 558 Phú Hòa 565 Mỹ Trạch 572 Thượng Lâm Quảng Trị border 588 Sa Lung 592 Vĩnh Thủy 599 Tiên An Bến Hải River 609 Hà Thanh 622 Đông Hà Thạch Hãn River 634 Quảng Trị 643 Diên Sanh 652 Mỹ Chanh Thừa Thiên-Huế border 660 Phò Trạch 670 Hiền Sỹ 678 Văn Xá 684 An Hoa Perfume River 0,688 Huế 691 An Cựu 699 Hương Thuỷ 702 Phù Bài 708 Nong 715 Truồi 724 Đá Bạc 729 Cầu Hai 732 Nước Ngọt 742 Thừa Lưu 755 Lăng Cô Thừa Thiên-Huế Da Nang border Hải Vân Pass 761 Hải Vân Bắc 766 Hải Vân 772 Hải Vân Nam 776 Liên Chiểu 777 Kim Liên Cu Đê River 788 Thanh Khê 0,791 Đà Nẵng 794 Liên Trì 799 Phong Lệ Cam Le River 804 Lệ Trạch Quảng Nam border 814 Nông Sơn Thu Bồn River 819 Gò Nổi 820 Chiêm Sơn 825 Trà Kiệu 842 Phú Cang 857 An Mỹ 865 Tam Kỳ 928 Quảng Ngãi 1,096 Diêu Trì 0,000 Quy Nhơn 1,198 Tuy Hòa Đà Rằng River 1,315 Nha Trang 1,408 Đà Lạt 1,455 Vĩnh Hảo 1,551 Mương Mán Phan Thiết 1,697 Biên Hòa Đồng Nai River 1,707 Dĩ An 1,711 Sóng Thần 1,713 Thủ Đức 1,718 Bình Triệu Saigon River 1,722 Gò Vấp 1,726 Saigon This diagram: view talk edit

The North–South railway (

From World War II through to the Vietnam War, the entire North–South railway sustained major damage from bombings and sabotage.^[5] Owing to this damage, and to a subsequent lack of capital investment and maintenance, much of the infrastructure along the North–South railway remains outdated or in poor condition; in turn, lack of infrastructure development has been found to be a root cause for railway accidents along the line, including collisions at level crossings and derailments. Recent rehabilitation projects, supported by official development assistance, have improved the safety and efficiency of the line. As of 2007, 85% of the network's passenger volume and 60% of its cargo volume was transported along the line.^[6] The national railway company, Vietnam Railways, owns and operates the line.

Overview

For the most part, this 1,726 km (1,072 mi) long

As of 2007, 85% of the network's passenger traffic and 60% of its cargo traffic was transported along the North–South line, corresponding to 3,960.6 million person-km and 2,329.5 million ton-km, respectively.^{[nb 1]} These proportions are only slightly different from those recorded in the early 1990s; 1993 figures reported 82% of passenger traffic and 66% of cargo traffic along the line.^[6]

Passenger service

Daily passenger service is provided along the entire North–South railway by state railway company Vietnam Railways. Express service links Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, making stops at major stations; local service is also provided along shorter portions of the line, such as from Hanoi to Vinh, Vinh to Đồng Hới, Vinh to Quy Nhon, and so on. The following trains run regularly along the line (each line represents a pair of trains, one southbound and the other northbound):^[9]

Freight service

Vietnam Railways provides daily freight transport, mainly between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; freight service ending at Da Nang is also offered. The following trains run regularly along the line (each line represents a pair of trains, one southbound and the other northbound):^[10]

History

In 1895, outgoing

Construction of the first sections of the North–South railway itself began in 1899, and lasted over thirty years, with individual sections completed serially. The first section to be laid down was the Hanoi–Vinh section, built from 1899 to 1905. Next to be built was the Nha Trang–Saigon section from 1905 to 1913; the Saigon–Tan Linh portion was opened in 1908, followed by the Tan Linh–Nha Trang portion in 1913. During this time, tracks were also laid around the city of Huế, leading south to Tourane, and north to Đông Hà. The Huế–Tourane section opened in 1906, and the Huế–Dong Ha line opened in 1908. The Vinh-Huế section was constructed from 1913 to 1927, and finally, the remaining Huế–Nha Trang section was constructed from 1930 to 1936.^[2][6][11] On 2 October 1936, the entire 1,726 km (1,072 mi) Hanoi–Saigon link was formally put into full operation.

As elsewhere in the world, the railways were the sites of active union and labor organization.^[14]

The first journeys from end to end of the newly completed line, dubbed the Transindochinois ("Trans-Indochinese"), generally took about 60 hours, or two days and three nights.^[15] This decreased to about 40 hours by the late 1930s, with trains travelling at an average speed of 43 km/h (27 mph).^[5] Trains were generally pulled by French Pacific or Mikado locomotives, and included dining cars and sleeping cars (voitures-couchettes).^[12]

Wartime

After the Japanese invasion of French Indochina during World War II, Japanese forces used the Vietnamese railway system extensively, inviting sabotage by the Viet Minh as well as American bombing from the air. Following the exit of the Japanese at the end of the war, efforts were made to repair the seriously damaged North–South line.

Shortly after World War II ended, however, the

Throughout the Vietnam War, the North–South railway was a target of bombardments and sabotage by both North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese forces. The South, supported with the United States, reconstructed the track between Saigon and Huế in the late 1950s, a distance of 1,041 km (647 mi). Nevertheless, a relentless campaign of intense bombing and sabotage by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regular units resulted in the South Vietnamese railway system being unable to carry significant tonnages. 795 attacks were launched between 1961 and 1964 alone, eventually forcing the South to abandon many large sections of the track.^[5] The U.S. Army operating in South Vietnam had considerable interest in the North–South line because of the potential it offered in the bulk movement of cargo at low rates. The system was used to support the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, construction program and transported hundreds of thousands of tons of rock and gravel to air base and highway sites.^[21]

In North Vietnam, American bombing of railways was concentrated on key targets such as railway bridges, both along the North–South railway and along the lines north of Hanoi, such as the Hanoi–Lào Cai and Hanoi–Dong Dang lines. Operation Rolling Thunder was the first large-scale bombing campaign carried out by the U.S. Air Force, taking place from March 2, 1965 until November 1, 1968, when US President Lyndon B. Johnson temporarily called off air raids. Large-scale air raids resumed from May 9 to October 23, 1972, for Operation Linebacker, and again from December 18–29, 1972, for Operation Linebacker II, with fewer target restrictions than Rolling Thunder.

A particularly difficult target for the U.S. Air Force was the

After the

On 10 March 2015

On 7 August 2023, rocks collapsed at km 455 in Quang Binh in a tunnel, leading to massive delays (up to 16 hours 26 minutes). This happened during maintenance of the tunnel.^[25]

Stations

List of stations

This abridged list includes all major stations^{[nb 3]} with timetabled services. As of 2005, there were 278 stations on the Vietnamese railway network,^[4] of which 191 were located along the North–South line.^[3]

Km	Station	Region	Province	City/Dist./Ward	Opened	Notes	Photo
0	Hanoi	Red River Delta	Hanoi	Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi	1902[26]	Interchange for Hanoi–Đồng Đăng lines
5	Giáp Bát	Red River Delta	Hanoi	Hoang Mai District, Hanoi		Freight station
56	Phủ Lý	Red River Delta	Hà Nam	Hai Ba Trung Ward, Phủ Lý
87	Nam Định	Red River Delta	Nam Định	Nam Định			Photo
115	Ninh Bình	Red River Delta	Ninh Bình	Thanh Binh Ward, Ninh Bình
176	Thanh Hóa	North Central Coast	Thanh Hóa	Tan Son Ward, Thanh Hóa
319	Vinh	North Central Coast	Nghệ An	Lê Lợi Ward, Vinh	1905[27]
522	Đồng Hới	North Central Coast	Quảng Bình	Nam Ly Ward, Đồng Hới
622	Đông Hà	North Central Coast	Quảng Trị	Đông Hà
688	Huế	North Central Coast	Thua Thiên-Huế	Huế	1906[28]
777	Kim Lien	South Central Coast	Da Nang			Freight station
791	Đà Nẵng	South Central Coast	Da Nang	Thanh Khe District	1902[29]
865	Tam Kỳ	South Central Coast	Quảng Nam	An Xuan Ward, Tam Ky
928	Quảng Ngãi	South Central Coast	Quảng Ngãi	Quang Phu Ward, Quảng Ngãi
1096	Diêu Trì	South Central Coast	Bình Định	Diêu Trì, Tuy Phước District		For Quy Nhơn
1096*	Quy Nhơn	South Central Coast	Bình Định	Quy Nhơn
1198	Tuy Hòa	South Central Coast	Phú Yên	Ward 2, Tuy Hòa
1315	Nha Trang	South Central Coast	Khánh Hòa	Phuoc Tan Ward - Nha Trang	1936
1408	Tháp Chàm	South Central Coast	Ninh Thuận	My Huong Ward, Phan Rang – Tháp Chàm		Interchange for Da Lat–Thap Cham line[nb 4]
1551	Bình Thuận	South Central Coast	Bình Thuận	Muong Man		For Phan Thiết
1697	Biên Hòa	Southeast	Đồng Nai	Trung Dung Ward, Biên Hòa
1711	Sóng Thần	Southeast	Ho Chi Minh City	An Binh, Di An District		Freight station	Photo
1726	Sai Gon	Southeast	Ho Chi Minh City	Ward 9, District 3	1983[nb 5]

Infrastructure

Most of Vietnam's railway infrastructure—including bridges, rail trucks, track beds, rolling stock, signals and communication equipment, and maintenance facilities—has suffered severe deterioration, mainly due to damage inflicted during the Vietnam War and a subsequent lack of capital investment and maintenance. More recently, rehabilitation projects sustained by

Vietnam Railways reports the number of railway bridges along the North–South line to be 1,300, totalling about 28,000 m (92,000 ft), or about 63% of the national total. Considering both standard rail bridges and combined bridges, the total length along the North–South line is about 36,000 m (118,000 ft).^[6][7] Many railway bridges are severely worn from age and have damage dating from the Vietnam War, despite temporary restoration following the war. As of 2007, 278 bridges requiring major rehabilitation remain along the North–South Railway line.^[6]

Tunnels

There are 27 railway tunnels along the North–South line, amounting to a total length of 8,335 m (27,346 ft).^[7] Certain tunnels are inadequately drained and suffer from deterioration in the tunnel lining, causing water leaks that necessitate reductions in speed.^[2]

Signalling

The North–South railway line uses a semi-automatic block system, which allows individual signals to work either as

Along the North–South railway line, 3,650 level crossings were counted, 3,000 (or 82%) of which had no barriers, alarm systems or guards.^[34] As a result, accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians have occurred. A researcher from Villanova University noted "There are numerous safety issues with level crossings...usually, an accident occurs every day."^[35] Many rail bridges and tunnels have suffered deterioration since the 1970s, requiring trains passing over or through them to reduce speeds as low as 15 kilometres per hour (9.3 mph).^[2] In addition, the center of the country is subject to violent annual flooding and bridges are often swept away, causing lengthy closures.^[6]

Along with recent efforts aimed at infrastructure rehabilitation, the recent adoption of safety measures by Vietnam Railways has led to a decline in railway accidents. These measures include: public awareness campaigns on railway safety in the media; construction of fences and safety barriers at critical level crossings in major cities; mobilization of volunteers for traffic control at train stations and level crossings, especially during holiday seasons; the installation of additional auto-signal systems; and the construction of flyovers and underpasses to redirect traffic.^[6]

Infrastructure rehabilitation

The condition of railway infrastructure in Vietnam, although improving, is still poor enough overall to require rehabilitation. Rail transport only became a national priority for the Vietnamese government around the mid-1990s, at which point most of the railway network was severely degraded, having received only temporary repair from damages suffered during decades of war.^[6][36]

From 1994 to 2005, a major bridge rehabilitation project took place on the North–South railway line, with the Pacific Consultants International Group and Japan Transportation Consultants providing consultancy services. The overall project cost was JPY 11,020 million, or 18% less than the budgeted cost. The overall results of the project included a reduction in running hours from one end of the line to the other (from 36 hours in 1994 to 29 hours in 2007); an increase of speed limits on rehabilitated bridges (from 15 to 30 km/h (9.3 to 18.6 mph) to 60 to 80 km/h (37 to 50 mph), which contributed to the reduction in running hours; and a reduction in the number of railway accidents throughout the line.^[6]

In 2007, Vietnam Railways awarded an additional VND 150 billion (US$9.5 million) five-year contract for consultancy services to Japan Transportation Consultants, the Pacific Consultants International Group, and the Japan Railway Technical Service (Jarts), regarding a VND 2.47 trillion project to further improve bridge and railway safety on the North–South line. The project's goals include the refurbishment of 44 bridges and 37.6 km (23.4 mi) of railway tracks, the building of two new railway bridges and a new railway station at Ninh Bình, and the purchase of 23 track machines. The project was expected to be completed in 2010.^[37]

Development

• 
  Travelling from Hội An to Hanoi.
• 
  Travelling northward from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang.
• 
  A passenger observes the scenery from her seat.
• 
  Railway tracks in Hanoi.
• 
  Railway track beneath the Hai Van Pass.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to North-South Railway (Vietnam).

• List of railway lines in Vietnam
• North–South Express Railway (Vietnam)
• Vietnam Railways

Notes and references

Notes

References